TandemBear said:
Arcadiabear said:
Yup. Looks like everyone here is on the exact same page except for tandembear who invented a point that nobody was making.
Switching conference at this point is like giving the program air and water. Does having those mean that you live a great life? no, but it means you get to live for another day.
It was said we needed to switch to the Big10 to increase revenue to stay competitive. Actually, the quote said to challenge for a championship (whatever "championship" the poster meant is unclear).
And I've argued the opposite is true. Several have agreed that we won't actually be more competitive. It's so we can simply tread water. I get it. Moving to the Big10 will NOT bring us closer to winning a Big10 championship. Nor a national championship. That's simply not gonna happen. So again, we're just trying to stay afloat.
But is "treading water" worth the effort? Sending our "student" athletes across the country will now be even more taxing. For what point? To be competitive? Nope. To "keep up with the Jonses."
And "the Jonses" are the money-making machine that is college football. We've lost the entire point. We'll be sending our soccer and baseball players and Olympic sports athletes further afield to compete so our coaches and support staff can make more money.
Which is what many here are completely missing.
If there is a big 10 move, it will be along with others for a 6 team west coast pod, and it will be just about the same level of travel for the vast majority of sports. I am sure that the Big 10 would put the West Coast with the westernmost Big 10 teams - Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc. Those are not as easy as going to Colorado, but Nebraska is an extra hour, Illinois is a two more hours. And they would start to roll up those into two games per weekend like the PAC 12 does. It is more, to be sure, but the positive is that it would be more able to keep those sports, and add more if needed, and possibly fulfill all of the allocated scholarships. But most of the games would continue to be the same teams that you play now.
Regardless, the main point is that those olympic sports will not be fully funded and they will suffer as well.
As well, you now will have to add teams to the PAC 12 to keep it going. If we added Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, TCU and Houston - does that not also add the same level of travel as the Big 10? Of course it does.